Picking a scholarship winner

Young Pakistanis never fail to inspire me. I have the privilege of a couple of weeks ago of helping to select one graduate to go on a scholarship to one of Britain’s leading Universities. How interesting and how tough it was! Nearly two hundred application forms had to be sifted, giving a wonderful glimpse into so many remarkable and remarkably talented young lives.

Many of the applicants had achieved distinction in difficult circumstances. True, a few had clearly been born with silver spoons in their mouths – and it made impressively good use of their advantages. But many came from poorer, far-flung backgrounds, some with difficult family histories, pulling themselves up by their talent and will power, working to pay their way through university.

It was tough to whittle down the applications to just 7 people to be interviewed. The selection panel were mostly previous winners of the scholarship. And how distinguished they were – a Supreme Court judge, leading scientists, a lawyer, a journalist, an academic and a politician. We interviewed all day. We did not find the choices easy. But in the end we had to select just one winner, all too aware of what a difference we were making to one talented young life and not to the dozens of other applicants.

 On various scholarships, through various channels, dozens of Pakistanis are enabled to study in the UK each year. But I wish it were dozens more.